Valley Christian High School introduces drug-sniffing dogs

Headed back to school at Valley Christian High in San Jose? A tip: You're better off putting a dog biscuit into your pack rather than something that could give you a buzz.

You'll want to stay on the right side of Ranger and Sparks, two drug-sniffing golden retrievers who will be appearing on the hilltop campus a couple of times a month. In the quest to stop student drug use, Valley Christian has turned to the dogs.

The private Christian school is contracting with a Hollister outfit with the euphonious name of Wonder Woofs. It's one of the first schools locally to do so -- though San Benito and Pacific Grove schools went first.

"We're not sniffing students,'' said Joel Gonzalez, an ex-San Jose police officer who is Valley Christian's director of security (yes, they have one). "We're using them to sniff the air around places like lockers, hallways and the parking lot.''

Valley Christian administrators say they don't believe their drug problem is worse than any other high school's. But bringing in dogs is still a dramatic step, based on the notion that kids should be held accountable when they agree to obey the rules against drugs.

"The key to making this work is that everybody knows this is going on,'' said Gonzalez, who notes the deterrent value of the dogs. "So once we implement the program, there's no surprise.''

Sports influences

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Given what's happened nationally with sports stars like Alex Rodriguez, Ryan Braun and Lance Armstrong, it's no surprise that the urge to do something more dramatic about drugs has penetrated the thinking of high schools.

It seems to me that the presence of the dogs still says two things about our society, neither of which is particularly encouraging.

The first is that our faith in kids to make the right choices has eroded. We've spent a lot of time telling them to "just say no.'' The invitation to the dogs says that we presume some of were not listening. We're not offering forgiveness.

A dog's nose is devastatingly accurate: And while they are not sniffing students, you can assume that if a kid walks by with a baggie of dope in his pocket, a golden retriever will let people know.

The second point is that parents are yearning for help. The Facebook comments I've seen on the dogs are almost uniformly positive. Even if parents are confident their kids aren't using drugs, they suspect others are. "I think it's a better safe than sorry thing,'' one parent wrote.

Gentle dogs

On this one, I'm torn. I believe marijuana should be legalized for adults. But it's hard, no, impossible, to teach kids who are high. The rules exist for a reason.

When you think of dogs as enforcers, you think of aggressive German shepherds chasing immigrants at a border. Valley Christian was smart in bringing in golden retrievers, the gentlest of canines. They've been trained to sit when they smell drugs and put their nose on the container -- a backpack, say -- holding the drugs.

Don't be fooled: These dogs have the face of a dean who has seen everything. Even a biscuit isn't going to get you out of trouble.